State institutions have evidence of Indian funding behind JAAC’s agenda in AJK: official

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Information Department Secretary Muhammad Rashid Hanif claimed on Monday that state institutions had evidence of Indian funding behind the banned Joint Awami Action Committee’s (JAAC) “agenda” in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a press conference in Muzaffarabad, the information secretary said that state institutions had credible information about foreign funding behind ongoing activities in AJK.

“The institutions have evidence of the use of Indian funding to mobilise overseas Kashmiris, such as UK-based Amjad Ayub Mirza, to advance an anti-Pakistan agenda,” Hanif said.

He urged the people of AJK to dismiss the “baseless disinformation campaign on social media” and participate in the “due political process to restore peace and order in the region”.

The information secretary elaborated that for the past month, members of the proscribed organisation had carried out multiple “illegal and violent” activities under the guise of human rights advocacy.

“This apparent human rights movement has held the entire region hostage,” he said.

In the Poonch belt, he said JAAC members had made public life difficult through harassment and the spread of fear.

“They tried to misdirect the youth, replacing the pen with the baton,” Hanif said.

He added that the human rights movement had now “turned into a violent movement”.

During the press conference, the information secretary also shared visuals with the media showing JAAC members blocking roads by cutting trees, targeting hospitals, and making anti-Pakistan remarks.

“Economic and business activity has been suspended in the region, which has caused losses of Rs15 billion to the government, which already has limited resources,” he said.

“They are provoking the people,” he said.

Initially, Hanif said JAAC was a human rights movement that emerged after Covid-19 in 2023 with a people-centred agenda, including issues such as rising flour and electricity prices.

He said the government took their concerns seriously and addressed them appropriately. However, he added that some individuals with a “pronounced agenda” became part of the movement over time.

Over time, he said, the direction of the organisation changed and it resorted to “violent, illegal and anti-democratic activities.”

“An independent Kashmiri state is part of their agenda,” he said, adding: “The JAAC was never registered in the region. Now they are encouraging civil disobedience and inciting people to revolt.”

Hanif further said there was a narrative promoting the idea of an independent AJK, being advanced by the proscribed organisation’s foreign-based leaders.

“Their leaders abroad asked why AJK can be an independent state, as many states with smaller populations are independent,” he recalled.

The information secretary claimed JAAC members were using people, including women and children, as human shields.

He also stated that recent activities by JAAC members included road blockades, hooliganism, and the creation of artificial shortages of goods by stopping vehicles sent by the government in the region.

Meanwhile, an AJK police spokesperson claimed JAAC miscreants loot goods carriers and physically abuse drivers; as a result, drivers are afraid to enter the region.

In the Poonch division, he said JAAC members were harassing and abusing the public, including government officials.

“On behalf of the AJK police, I want to reassure you that we will restore the supply chain and clear the road blockades soon.”

The spokesperson also cited various incidents of lawlessness and violent activity by JAAC members in the region. He claimed that members of the proscribed organisation used firearms on July 4 to intimidate the public and spread a narrative that the state had launched a crackdown.

He said the JAAC leadership now had only one option: surrender to law enforcement agencies, and that the law would deal with them accordingly.

On June 5, the JAAC was declared a proscribed organisation by the regional government and placed under the First Schedule of the region’s anti-terrorism act (ATA).

A day later, AJK authorities launched a crackdown on the JAAC, arresting scores of its leaders and later placing 147 of its activists on the Fourth Schedule of the ATA. ...